I was quite surprised this week when a debug preview
copy of Top Spin 2 arrived in the post. Top Spin was an excellent tennis
title when it was released a few years ago on the original Xbox and so
far no other Tennis games on any console have come close to it since
it's release. So what can we expect from Top Spin 2? Well defiantly much
improved graphics, more professionals added and yet again a lot of
detail when creating your player. I have high hopes for Top Spin 2,
despite it being passed over from Microsoft to 2k Games...a company that
has proved over the past few months just how excellent their sports
titles can be.

One of the top Xbox sports games, in both sales and
popularity returns for another victory on Xbox 360. Everything you loved
about Top Spin is back and made even better. The peerless player-creator
is reborn with the powerful Digital Identity that truly puts you in the
game. Experience Grand Slam events in venues that are alive and dynamic
with environmental elements that react to your play. Characters are even
more stunning with the addition of HD technology and the inclusion of
the top players in the world like Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Andy
Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer. Put it all online and you
once again have the greatest tennis game ever created.

Digital Identity-
Create realistic player models and customize them with the highest
level of details. Hairstyles, sweatbands, shirts, shorts, shoes,
etc. allow you to create a player with your look and your style.
Coupled with the ability to taunt your opponents with in-game smack
talk, argue line calls, or raise your hands in celebration, Top Spin
2 puts you in the game.

Innovative Gameplay-
Top Spin 2 lets you play your style of tennis by providing a variety
of shots including slices, drops, chops, lobs, and drives. In
addition to these fundamental shot types, Top Spin 2 adds depth with
a number of risk shots and advanced controls - giving you the
ability to pick apart your opponent piece by piece.

The Online Experience-
2K Sports continues to lead the online gaming revolution as Top Spin
2 features seamless online play and the most comprehensive online
features anywhere.

Gameplay

There was not a lot wrong with the original Top Spin
game in the first place, so the question here is how can 2K Games
improve the gameplay rather than just the move over to high definition.
First news is that the game comes with many real-life stadiums and
courts, Wimbledon, Australian Open and the US Open have all been created
in the game, they look great too. There are not the only courts though,
there are 18 proper ones and many other basic clay and grass courts for
you to hone your skills.

Rankings are out of 200 - I'm not that good so far so
haven't risen too much. To give an example I played in one tournament
against a player ranked around 173 in the world, I got well and truly
stuffed! He wasn't that good a player, but because I hadn't trained
enough, my player tired easily, was slower at reaching shots, didn't
have the power to compete etc. This means you have to train to get
better, just like you would in tennis. The good thing here is that the
training games are actually fun to take part in, they range from
knocking down bowling pins, breaking down blocks in an arcanoid style,
hitting shots in the correct places etc.

When you complete the various training schedules, you
get to spend your star points on things like speed, power, agility.
There are more options here this time than Top Spin 2 had, another good
step up from the last game where you only really had serve, forehand,
backhand and volley as skills. You get a total 60 star points to spend
on your skill as the game goes on. As you progress through the game,
your coach will give you various tests, these range from learning to use
the moves such as volleys, flat and drop shots by returning the shots to
him in the correct way. For once this actually felt that you were
learning something from a coach! Another point here is that you can
change your coach during the game, if you feel you want to make your
game more aggressive for example, you can go with a coach who would help
you with that. This was a side to the game that worked well as the
coaches you go with can only let you reach a certain amount of stars for
certain skills before you would have to move onto another one. If you
want to "complete" the game you will have to learn to develop your
player both in single player and in online games. Skills can be used and
raised in the career mode over 5 seasons as well as online.

Risk shots have thankfully changed for the better...what happens is
there is a bar (Advance shot meter) that fills up at the top left or right of the screen, as
you score points the bar goes up, lose a point and it goes down. Above the bar are X,Y,A,B symbols,
these light up as you can use a risk shot, when you use it, the bar
drops back down a bit so you don't get to use it all the time, and they
are not impossible to stop now for players who show an actual talent.
The four risk shots are Top Spin, Drop Shot, Flat and Super Lob and as
mentioned, you can only use this once before you have to renew your
advance shot meter.

There are 11 achievements overall for players to get.
These range from completing tournaments, beating seeded higher players,
completed ranks with both male and female players etc. They won't be as
easy to get as most of the EA range of games, which is a good thing.
Finally good news for those who got annoyed at being unable to save the
game during tournaments. In Top Spin 2 you can save after each match has
finished, you can then return to the same place you left it at the next
time you load the game at. Live! play has been hard to judge in this
debug build of the game as there was no one else online whenever I tried
to play others so I can give no comment here until I am sent the final
game in a few weeks time.

Graphics & Sound

Great presentation with excellent menus and a lot to do and
change...load times are dire currently, but remember this is a debug
title with a debug machine, load times change on the final retail
versions. Generally the graphics and sound have improved over the previous
game, there are a few problems in the debug version that will get fixed
before it comes out like shadows, but it looks good. character setup is
superb and you can almost certainly make someone who looks like you.
Character models are fantastic - you really can make your player look
like you, there is so much to change, noses, nose shadow, colours, staines on the face, riddles on the face, lips, lip shadows,...you can
even add vains! Sound on the other hand - well this is the only let down
for me, there is no commentary, which is expected...but generally the
crowd sounds are not that great. Also there seems to be NO replays what
so ever.

The game has some excellent music tracks, not much of
a surprise to me considering Indie Games were involved, the crowd effects are
also good. There is no commentary which was expected to be the case and
the only speech comes from someone telling you the score and from
coaches in the menu who send you messages.

Final Comments

Byron's Gamertag

Top Spin 2 is certainly another step up for the series
and from the preview build we got sent I can only say good things about
it. Graphically its a step up from the last game, but with high
definition that was fully expected, sound isn't quite as good as I hoped
it would be, but there is time to correct that, live play was impossible
to judge too. The only points of worry for me right now are the massive
load times the game has shown, but with this being a debug title, thats
likely to be improved a lot, the other is that sometimes the main
default view in the tennis games feels too far out (especially when you
first play the game) and the zoom view is too close, but its something
you can get used to quite quickly. All in all, it's looking good for
tennis in April on the 360.